Capturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backup chain

ABSTRACT

Capturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backup chain. In one example embodiment, a method for capturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backup chain may include taking a first snapshot of a source storage at a first point in time, identifying a first set of block positions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage at the first point in time, identifying a second set of block positions of blocks that are written to the first snapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of the first snapshot, resulting in a first quiesced snapshot, copying the blocks in the first set of block positions from the first snapshot to a full image backup, copying the blocks in the second set of block positions from the first quiesced snapshot to a first incremental image backup that depends on the full image backup, tracking a third set of block positions of the blocks that are modified in the source storage between the first point in time and a second point in time, taking a second snapshot of the source storage at the second point in time, identifying a fourth set of block positions of the blocks that are allocated in the source storage at the second point in time, identifying a fifth set of block positions of blocks that are written to the second snapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of the second snapshot, resulting in a second quiesced snapshot, calculating a sixth set of block positions by performing a Boolean AND operation on the third set of block positions and the fourth set of block positions, copying the blocks in the sixth set of block positions from the second snapshot to a second incremental image backup that depends on the full image backup, and copying the blocks in the fifth set of block positions from the second quiesced snapshot to a third incremental image backup that depends on the second incremental image backup.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO A RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/733,628, filed Jun. 8, 2015, and titled “CAPTURING POST-SNAPSHOTQUIESCENCE WRITES IN A BRANCHING IMAGE BACKUP CHAIN,” which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD

The embodiments disclosed herein relate to capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in a branching image backup chain.

BACKGROUND

A storage is computer-readable media capable of storing data in blocks.Storages face a myriad of threats to the data they store and to theirsmooth and continuous operation. In order to mitigate these threats, abackup of the data in a storage may be created to represent the state ofthe source storage at a particular point in time and to enable therestoration of the data at some future time. Such a restoration maybecome desirable, for example, if the storage experiences corruption ofits stored data, if the storage becomes unavailable, or if a user wishesto create a second identical storage.

A storage is typically logically divided into a finite number offixed-length blocks. A storage also typically includes a file systemwhich tracks the locations of the blocks that are allocated to each filethat is stored in the storage. The file system also tracks the blocksthat are not allocated to any file. The file system generally tracksallocated and unallocated blocks using specialized data structures,referred to as file system metadata. File system metadata is also storedin designated blocks in the storage.

Various techniques exist for backing up a source storage. One commontechnique involves backing up individual files stored in the sourcestorage on a per-file basis. This technique is often referred to as filebackup. File backup uses the file system of the source storage as astarting point and performs a backup by writing the files to adestination storage. Using this approach, individual files are backed upif they have been modified since the previous backup. File backup may beuseful for finding and restoring a few lost or corrupted files. However,file backup may also include significant overhead in the form ofbandwidth and logical overhead because file backup requires the trackingand storing of information about where each file exists within the filesystem of the source storage and the destination storage.

Another common technique for backing up a source storage ignores thelocations of individual files stored in the source storage and insteadsimply backs up all allocated blocks stored in the source storage. Thistechnique is often referred to as image backup because the backupgenerally contains or represents an image, or copy, of the entireallocated contents of the source storage. Using this approach,individual allocated blocks are backed up if they have been modifiedsince the previous backup. Because image backup backs up all allocatedblocks of the source storage, image backup backs up both the blocks thatmake up the files stored in the source storage as well as the blocksthat make up the file system metadata. Also, because image backup backsup all allocated blocks rather than individual files, this approach doesnot necessarily need to be aware of the file system metadata or thefiles stored in the source storage, beyond utilizing minimal knowledgeof the file system metadata in order to only back up allocated blockssince unallocated blocks are not generally backed up.

An image backup can be relatively fast compared to file backup becausereliance on the file system is minimized. An image backup can also berelatively fast compared to a file backup because seeking is reduced. Inparticular, during an image backup, blocks are generally readsequentially with relatively limited seeking. In contrast, during a filebackup, blocks that make up individual files may be scattered, resultingin relatively extensive seeking.

One way to accomplish image backup is using a snapshot, which enablesthe state of the source storage at a particular point in time to becaptured without interrupting other processes, thus avoiding downtime ofthe source storage. Many snapshots employ a “copy on write” methodologywhich requires that every write command, received by the source storageduring a snapshot operation, be delayed until the original data block atthe location targeted by the write command is copied for safekeeping toa new location. In this manner, the copied original blocks stored in thenew location, as well as the unchanged original blocks stored in thesource storage, are “frozen” at the snapshot time and define the“snapshot,” which can then be employed in the creation of an imagebackup of the source storage. Then, once the image backup has beencreated, the data blocks that were copied as part of the snapshot can bediscarded.

One common problem with using a snapshot during the creation of an imagebackup is that the source storage may not be in an ideal state at thesnapshot time. For example, a snapshot may be created before anapplication has saved data to the source storage that would be usefulduring a restore of an image backup. This useful data will therefore notbe included in the snapshot and therefore be missing from the imagebackup that is created based on the snapshot.

To mitigate a source storage not being in an ideal state at a snapshottime, post-snapshot quiescence technology has been developed to modify asnapshot to place the snapshot in an improved state for the creation ofan image backup. For example, some platforms may permit softwareapplications to issue write operations to the snapshot after thesnapshot has been created. This enables these software applications toperform post-snapshot quiescence writes to the snapshot before thesnapshot is used in the creation of an image backup. However, since eachsuccessive image backup in an image backup chain typically depends onprior image backups representing the exact state of the source storageat the snapshot time, and since post-snapshot quiescence technologycauses a snapshot to no longer represent the exact state of the sourcestorage at the snapshot time, post-snapshot quiescence technology is nottypically employed in creating an image backup chain. Therefore,individual image backups in an image backup chain lack the improvedstate afforded by post-snapshot quiescence technology, and therefore arenot as useful when it comes time to restore the image backup chain to arestore storage.

The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to embodiments thatsolve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such asthose described above. Rather, this background is only provided toillustrate one example technology area where some embodiments describedherein may be practiced.

SUMMARY

In general, example embodiments described herein relate to capturingpost-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backup chain. Theexample embodiments disclosed herein may be employed to create one ormore image backups in a branching image backup chain with at least someof the image backups in the branching image backup chain representingthe source storage in a post-snapshot quiescence state. Including imagebackups in the branching image backup chain that represent the sourcestorage in a post-snapshot quiescence state may make the branching imagebackup chain more useful when it comes time to restore the branchingimage backup chain to a restore storage.

In one example embodiment, a method for capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in a branching image backup chain may include taking afirst snapshot of a source storage at a first point in time, identifyinga first set of block positions of blocks that are allocated in thesource storage at the first point in time, identifying a second set ofblock positions of blocks that are written to the first snapshot duringpost-snapshot quiescence of the first snapshot, resulting in a firstquiesced snapshot, copying the blocks in the first set of blockpositions from the first snapshot to a full image backup, copying theblocks in the second set of block positions from the first quiescedsnapshot to a first incremental image backup that depends on the fullimage backup, tracking a third set of block positions of the blocks thatare modified in the source storage between the first point in time and asecond point in time, taking a second snapshot of the source storage atthe second point in time, identifying a fourth set of block positions ofthe blocks that are allocated in the source storage at the second pointin time, identifying a fifth set of block positions of blocks that arewritten to the second snapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of thesecond snapshot, resulting in a second quiesced snapshot, calculating asixth set of block positions by performing a Boolean AND operation onthe third set of block positions and the fourth set of block positions,copying the blocks in the sixth set of block positions from the secondsnapshot to a second incremental image backup that depends on the fullimage backup, and copying the blocks in the fifth set of block positionsfrom the second quiesced snapshot to a third incremental image backupthat depends on the second incremental image backup.

In another example embodiment, a method for capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in a branching image backup chain may include trackinga first set of block positions of a blocks that are modified in thesource storage between a first point in time and a second point in time,taking a snapshot of the source storage at the second point in time,identifying a second set of block positions of the blocks that areallocated in the source storage at the second point in time, identifyinga third set of block positions of blocks that are written to thesnapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot, resulting in aquiesced snapshot, calculating a fourth set of block positions byperforming a Boolean AND operation on the first set of block positionsand the second set of block positions, copying the blocks in the fourthset of block positions from the snapshot to a first incremental imagebackup that depends on an image backup that represents the state of thesource storage at the first point in time, and copying the blocks in thethird set of block positions from the quiesced snapshot to a secondincremental image backup that depends on the second incremental imagebackup.

In yet another example embodiment, a method for capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in a branching image backup chain may include taking afirst snapshot of a source storage at a first point in time, identifyinga first file system block allocation map (FSBAM) of the source storagefrom the first point in time, the first FSBAM identifying blockpositions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage at thefirst point in time, accessing a first quiescence map of the firstsnapshot, the first quiescence map identifying block positions of blocksthat are written to the first snapshot during post-snapshot quiescenceof the first snapshot, resulting in a first quiesced snapshot, copyingthe blocks identified in the first FSBAM from the first snapshot to afull image backup, copying the blocks identified in the first quiescencemap from the first quiesced snapshot to a first incremental image backupthat depends on the full image backup, tracking, in a modify map, blockpositions of the blocks that are modified in the source storage betweenthe first point in time and a second point in time, taking a secondsnapshot of the source storage at the second point in time, accessing asecond FSBAM of the source storage from the second point in time, thesecond FSBAM identifying block positions of the blocks that areallocated in the source storage at the second point in time, accessing asecond quiescence map of the second snapshot, the second quiescence mapidentifying block positions of blocks that are written to the secondsnapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of the second snapshot,resulting in a second quiesced snapshot, calculating block positions fora second incremental image backup by performing a Boolean AND operationon the modify map and the second FSBAM, copying the blocks in the blockpositions for the second incremental image backup from the secondsnapshot to the second incremental image backup that depends on the fullimage backup, and copying the blocks in the second quiescence map fromthe second quiesced snapshot to a third incremental image backup thatdepends on the second incremental image backup.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are explanatory and are notrestrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Example embodiments will be described and explained with additionalspecificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example image backupand restore system;

FIGS. 2A-2B are a schematic block diagram illustrating a timeline ofcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in an image backup;

FIG. 2C is a schematic block diagram illustrating a linear image backupchain resulting from the timeline of FIGS. 2A-2B;

FIGS. 3A-3B are a schematic block diagram illustrating a timeline ofcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a linear image backupchain;

FIG. 3C is a schematic block diagram illustrating a linear image backupchain resulting from the timeline of FIGS. 3A-3B;

FIGS. 4A-4B are a schematic block diagram illustrating a timeline ofcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backupchain;

FIG. 4C is a schematic block diagram illustrating a branching imagebackup chain resulting from the timeline of FIGS. 4A-4B;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example method forcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in an image backup;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example method forcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a linear image backupchain; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example method forcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backupchain.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The term “storage” as used herein refers to computer-readable mediacapable of storing data in blocks, such as one or more floppy disks,optical disks, magnetic disks, or solid state (flash) disks, or somelogical portion thereof such as a volume. The term “block” as usedherein refers to a fixed-length discrete sequence of bits. In some filesystems, blocks are sometimes referred to as “clusters.” In some exampleembodiments, the size of each block may be configured to match thestandard sector size of a storage on which the block is stored. Forexample, the size of each block may be 512 bytes (4096 bits) where 512bytes is the size of a standard sector. In other example embodiments,the size of each block may be configured to be a multiple of thestandard sector size of a storage on which the block is stored. Forexample, the size of each block may be 4096 bytes (32,768 bits) where512 bytes (4096 bits) is the size of a standard sector, which results ineach block including eight sectors. In some file systems, a block is theallocation unit of the file system, with the allocated blocks and freeblocks being tracked by the file system. The term “allocated block” asused herein refers to a block in a storage that is currently tracked asstoring data by a file system of the storage. The term “free block” asused herein refers to a block in a storage that is not currently trackedas storing data by a file system of the storage. The term “backup” whenused herein as a noun refers to a copy or copies of one or more blocksfrom a storage. The term “full backup” as used herein refers to a fullbackup of a storage that includes at least a copy of each uniqueallocated block of the storage at a point in time such that the fullbackup can be restored on its own to recreate the state of the storageat the point in time, without being dependent on any other backup. A“full backup” may also include nonunique allocated blocks and freeblocks of the storage at the point in time. An example file format for a“full backup” is the ShadowProtect Full (SPF) image backup format. Theterm “incremental backup” as used herein refers to an at least partialbackup of a storage that includes at least a copy of each uniqueallocated block of the storage that was modified between a previouspoint in time of a previous backup of the storage and the subsequentpoint in time of the incremental backup, such that the incrementalbackup, along with all previous backups of the storage, including aninitial full backup of the storage, can be restored together as anincremental image backup chain to recreate the state of the storage atthe subsequent point in time. An “incremental backup” may also includenonunique allocated blocks and free blocks of the storage that weremodified between the previous point in time and the subsequent point intime. An example file format for an “incremental backup” is theShadowProtect Incremental (SPI) image backup format. The term “modifiedblock” as used herein refers to a block that was modified either becausethe block was previously allocated and changed or because the block wasmodified by being newly allocated and changed. The term “decrementalbackup” as used herein refers to an at least partial backup of a storagethat includes at least a copy of each unique allocated block from a fullbackup of the storage that corresponds to a block that was modified inthe source storage between a previous point in time and a subsequentpoint in time, such that the decremental backup, along with allsubsequent decremental backups of the storage, including a full backupof the storage, can be restored together as a decremental image backupchain to recreate the state of the storage at the previous point intime. A “decremental backup” may also include nonunique allocated blocksand free blocks from a full backup of the storage that correspond toblocks that were modified in the source storage between the point intime and the subsequent point in time. It is understood that a “fullbackup,” an “incremental backup,” and/or a “decremental backup” mayexclude certain undesired allocated blocks such as blocks belonging tofiles whose contents are not necessary for restoration purposes, such asvirtual memory pagination files and machine hibernation state files.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example image backupand restore system 100. As disclosed in FIG. 1, the system 100 mayinclude a source system 102, a destination system 104, and a restoresystem 106. The systems 102, 104, and 106 may include storages 108, 110,and 112, respectively. The source system 102 may also include a backupmodule 114 and the restore system 106 may also include a restore module116. The systems 102, 104, and 106 may be configured to communicate withone another over a network 118.

The destination storage 110 may store one or more image backups of thesource storage 108. For example, the destination storage 110 may store afull image backup 120, a 1st incremental image backup 122, a 2ndincremental image backup 124, and an nth incremental image backup 126,which together make up an incremental image backup chain. The full imagebackup 120 may represent the state of the source storage at time t(1),the 1st incremental image backup 122 may represent the state of thesource storage at time t(2), the 2nd incremental image backup 124 mayrepresent the state of the source storage at time t(3), and the nthincremental image backup 126 may represent the state of the sourcestorage at time t(n+1). Any of the image backups 120-126 may be restoredto the restore storage 112.

Each of the systems 102, 104, and 106 may be any computing devicecapable of supporting a storage and communicating with other systemsincluding, for example, file servers, web servers, personal computers,desktop computers, laptop computers, handheld devices, multiprocessorsystems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics,smartphones, digital cameras, hard disk drives, flash memory drives, andvirtual machines. The network 118 may be any wired or wirelesscommunication network including, for example, a Local Area Network(LAN), a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), aWireless Application Protocol (WAP) network, a Bluetooth network, anInternet Protocol (IP) network such as the internet, or some combinationthereof. The network 118 may also be a network emulation of a hypervisorover which one or more virtual machines and/or physical machines maycommunicate.

The incremental image backup chain stored in the destination storage 110may be created by the backup module 114. For example, the backup module114 may be one or more programs that are configured, when executed, tocause one or more processors to perform image backup operations ofcreating a full image backup and multiple incremental image backups ofthe source storage 108. It is noted that these image backups mayinitially be created on the source system 102 and then copied to thedestination system 104.

For example, the full image backup 120 may be created to capture thestate at time t(1). This image backup operation may include the backupmodule 114 copying all unique allocated blocks of the source storage 108as allocated at time t(1) and storing the unique allocated blocks in thedestination storage 110, or verifying that the unique allocated blocksare already stored in the destination storage 110. The state of thesource storage 108 at time t(1) may be captured using the snapshotmethods disclosed herein in order to capture the blocks stored in thesource storage 108 at time t(1) without interrupting other processes,thus avoiding downtime of the source storage 108. The full image backup120 may be relatively large depending on the size of the source storage108 and the number of allocated blocks at time t(1). As a result, thefull image backup 120 may take a relatively long time to create andconsume a relatively large amount of space in the destination storage110.

Next, the 1st and 2nd incremental image backups 122 and 124 may becreated to capture the states at times t(2) and t(3), respectively. Thismay include copying only modified unique allocated blocks of the sourcestorage 108 present at time t(2) and storing the modified uniqueallocated blocks in the destination storage 110, or verifying that themodified unique allocated blocks are already stored in the destinationstorage 110, then later copying only modified unique allocated blocks ofthe source storage 108 present at time t(3) and storing the modifiedunique allocated blocks in the destination storage 110, or verifyingthat the modified unique allocated blocks are already stored in thedestination storage 110. The states of the source storage 108 at timest(2) and t(3) may also be captured using the snapshot methods disclosedherein, thus avoiding downtime of the source storage 108. Eachincremental image backup may include only those unique allocated blocksfrom the source storage 108 that were modified after the time of theprevious image backup. Thus, the 1st incremental image backup 122 mayinclude only those unique allocated blocks from the source storage 108that were modified between time t(1) and time t(2), and the 2ndincremental image backup 124 may include only those unique allocatedblocks from the source storage 108 that were modified between time t(2)and time t(3). In general, as compared to the full image backup 120,each incremental image backup may take a relatively short time to createand consume a relatively small storage space in the destination storage110.

Finally, the nth incremental image backup 126 may be created to capturethe state at time t(n+1). This may include copying only modified uniqueallocated blocks of the source storage 108 present at time t(n+1) usingsnapshot technology, and storing the modified unique allocated blocks inthe destination storage 110, or verifying that the modified uniqueallocated blocks are already stored in the destination storage 110. Thenth incremental image backup 126 may include only those unique allocatedblocks from the source storage 108 that were modified between time t(n)and time t(n+1).

Therefore, incremental image backups may be created on an ongoing basis.The frequency of creating new incremental image backups may be alteredas desired in order to adjust the amount of data that will be lostshould the source storage 108 experience corruption of its stored blocksor become unavailable at any given point in time. The blocks from thesource storage 108 can be restored to the state at the point in time ofa particular incremental image backup by applying the image backups tothe restore storage 112 from oldest to newest, namely, first applyingthe full image backup 120 and then applying each successive incrementalimage backup up to the particular incremental image backup.Alternatively, the blocks from the source storage 108 can be restored tothe state at the point in time of a particular incremental image backupby applying the image backups to the restore storage 112 concurrently,namely, concurrently applying the full image backup 120 and eachsuccessive incremental image backup up to the particular incrementalimage backup.

Although only allocated blocks are included in the example incrementalimage backups discussed above, it is understood that in alternativeimplementations both allocated and free blocks may be backed up duringthe creation of a full image backup or an incremental image backup. Thisis typically done for forensic purposes, because the contents of freeblocks can be interesting where the free blocks contain data from aprevious point in time when the blocks were in use and allocated.Therefore, the creation of full image backups and incremental imagebackups as disclosed herein is not limited to allocated blocks but mayalso include free blocks.

Further, although only full image backups and incremental image backupsare discussed above, it is understood that the source storage 108 mayinstead be backed up by creating a full image backup and one or moredecremental image backups. Decremental image backups are created byinitially creating a full image backup to capture the state at aninitial point in time, then updating the full image backup to capturethe state at a subsequent point in time by modifying only those blocksin the full image backup that were modified between the initial andsubsequent points in time. Prior to the updating of the full imagebackup, however, any original blocks in the full image backup thatcorrespond to the locations of the modified blocks are copied to adecremental image backup, thus enabling restoration of the sourcestorage 108 at the initial point in time (by restoring the updated fullimage backup and then restoring the decremental image backup, or byconcurrently restoring the updated full image backup and the decrementalimage backup) or at the subsequent point in time (by simply restoringthe updated full image backup). Since restoring a single full imagebackup is generally faster than restoring a full image backup and one ormore incremental or decremental image backups, creating decrementalimage backups instead of incremental image backups may enable the mostrecent image backup to be restored more quickly since the most recentimage backup is always a full image backup instead of potentially beingan incremental image backup. Therefore, the methods disclosed herein arenot limited to implementation on incremental image backup chains, butmay also include implementation on decremental image backup chains.

In one example embodiment, the destination system 104 may be a networkserver, the source system 102 may be a first desktop computer, thesource storage 108 may be a volume on one or more magnetic hard drivesof the first desktop computer, the restore system 106 may be a seconddesktop computer, the restore storage 112 may be a volume on one or moremagnetic hard drives of the second desktop computer, and the network 118may include the internet. In this example embodiment, the first desktopcomputer may be configured to periodically back up the volume of thefirst desktop computer over the internet to the network server as partof a backup job by creating the full image backup 120 and the multipleincremental image backups 122, 124, and 126 stored in the destinationstorage 110. The first desktop computer may also be configured to trackincremental changes to its volume between backups in order to easily andquickly identify only those blocks that were modified for use in thecreation of an incremental backup. The second desktop computer may alsobe configured to restore one or more of the image backups from thenetwork server over the internet to the volume of the second desktopcomputer if the first desktop computer experiences corruption of itsvolume or if the first desktop computer's volume becomes unavailable.

Although only a single storage is disclosed in each of the systems 102,104, and 106 in FIG. 1, it is understood that any of the systems 102,104, and 106 may instead include two or more storages. Further, althoughthe systems 102, 104, and 106 are disclosed in FIG. 1 as communicatingover the network 118, it is understood that the systems 102, 104, and106 may instead communicate directly with each other. For example, insome embodiments any combination of the systems 102, 104, and 106 may becombined into a single system, including embodiments where the sourcestorage 108 represents the same storage as the restore storage 112.Further, although the backup module 114 and the restore module 116 arethe only modules disclosed in the system 100 of FIG. 1, it is understoodthat the functionality of the modules 114 and 116 may be replaced oraugmented by one or more similar modules residing on any of the systems102, 104, or 106 or another system. Finally, although only a singlesource storage and a single restore storage are disclosed in the system100 of FIG. 1, it is understood that the destination system 104 of FIG.1 may be configured to simultaneously back up multiple source storagesand/or to simultaneously restore to multiple restore storages. Forexample, where the destination system 104 is configured as adeduplication system (that is capable of removing duplicate blockswithin image backups and/or is capable of removing duplicate blocksbetween image backups), the greater the number of storages that arebacked up to the destination storage 110 of the destination system 104,the greater the likelihood for reducing redundancy and for reducing theoverall number of blocks being backed up, resulting in correspondingdecreases in the overall size requirements of the destination storage110 and in the bandwidth overhead of transporting blocks to thedestination storage 110.

Having described one specific environment with respect to FIG. 1, it isunderstood that the specific environment of FIG. 1 is only one ofcountless environments in which the example methods disclosed herein maybe practiced. The scope of the example embodiments is not intended to belimited to any particular environment.

FIGS. 2A-2B are a schematic block diagram illustrating a timeline 200 ofcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in an image backup. FIG. 2C isa schematic block diagram illustrating a linear image backup chain 201resulting from the timeline 200 of FIGS. 2A-2B. In particular, FIGS.2A-2B disclose the states of the source storage 108 at times t(1),t(1.2), t(2), t(2.3), t(3), and t(3.1). The full image backup 120 arepresents the state of the source storage 108 at time t(1), the 1stincremental image backup 122 a represents the state of the sourcestorage at time t(2), and the 2nd incremental image backup 124 arepresents the state of the source storage at time t(3). However, asdiscussed in greater detail below, each of the image backups 120 a, 122a, and 124 a additionally includes post-snapshot quiescencemodifications, which makes the linear image backup chain 201 of FIG. 2C(which is made up of the image backups 120 a, 122 a, and 124 a) moreuseful when it comes time to restore one or more backups in the linearimage backup chain 201 to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 2A, the state of the source storage 108 at timet(1) includes allocated blocks in positions (1), (2), (3), (5), and (10)and free blocks at positions (4), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (11). Theseallocated blocks are reflected in a file system block allocation map(FSBAM) 202 at time t(1), which identifies block positions of blocksthat are allocated in the source storage 108 at time t(1). At time t(1),a snapshot 204 is taken of the source storage 108, which initiallycaptures the state of the source storage at time t(1). The FSBAM 202 maybe stored in the snapshot 204, or it may be stored separately from thesnapshot 204.

Between time t(1) and time t(1.2), the state of the snapshot 204 ismodified by post-snapshot quiescence writes to the blocks in positions(1), (2), (3), (6), and (7), resulting in a quiesced snapshot 206 attime t(1.2). These post-snapshot quiescence writes are reflected in aquiescence map 208, which identifies block positions of blocks that arewritten to the snapshot 204 during post-snapshot quiescence of thesnapshot 204, resulting in the quiesced snapshot 206.

For example, on Microsoft Windows platforms, a Volume Shadow CopyService (VSS) framework may permit software applications, known as VSSWriters, to issue write operations to the snapshot 204 after thesnapshot 204 has been created, indirectly through the VSS or directlyfrom the VSS Writer. This enables the VSS or VSS Writers to performpost-snapshot quiescence writes to the snapshot 204 before the snapshot204 is used in the creation of the full image backup 120, as discussedbelow. Examples of VSS Writers that may be employed using the examplemethods disclosed herein include an Active Directory (AD) service and aHyper-V hypervisor.

It is understood that the snapshot 204 and the corresponding quiescedsnapshot 206 may be implemented in a variety of ways. For example, thesnapshot 204 and the corresponding quiesced snapshot 206 may beimplemented as two completely separate snapshots as illustrated in FIG.2A. Alternatively, the snapshot 204 and the corresponding quiescedsnapshot 206 may be implemented as a single snapshot that stores boththe original blocks, as stored in the snapshot 204 at time t(1), as wellas blocks written as part of a post-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot204 between time t(1) and time t(1.2), resulting in a single snapshotthat may store two blocks for some individual block positions (i.e., theoriginal block in the position at the time of the snapshot, as well as anew block written in the position during post-snapshot quiescence). Inthis implementation, reference to the “snapshot” refers to blockswritten to the original snapshot prior to the post-snapshot quiescenceof the snapshot, and reference to the “quiesced snapshot” refers to theblocks written as part of a post-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot.Alternatively, the snapshot 204 and the corresponding quiesced snapshot206 may be implemented by maintaining, in the snapshot 204, the originalblocks in the snapshot 204 that correspond to the blocks written duringpost-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot 204, and writing the blockswritten during post-snapshot quiescence to the quiesced snapshot 206. Inthis implementation, the original blocks in the snapshot 204 that do notcorrespond to blocks written during post-snapshot quiescence may bemaintained in either the snapshot 204 or exposed by or copied to thequiesced snapshot 206. Therefore, it is understood that any “snapshot”and corresponding “quiesced snapshot” herein may be implemented usingany one of the above-noted implementations.

At time t(1.2), block positions for the full image backup 120 a arecalculated by performing a Boolean OR operation on the FSBAM 202 and thequiescence map 208. As used herein, the phrases “performing a Boolean ORoperation” and “performing a Boolean AND operation” refers to performingthe equivalent of these Boolean operations. For example, the Booleanoperators OR and AND are generally applied to Boolean operands TRUE andFALSE, and Boolean operations themselves generally evaluate to eitherTRUE or FALSE. Therefore, in order to perform a Boolean operation on theFSBAM 202 and the quiescence map 208, the block positions may beconverted to the equivalent of the TRUE and FALSE operands. This may beaccomplished, for example, by considering the FSBAM 202 as a bitmap withvalues 1,1,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0, where a ‘1’ bit represents an allocatedblock position, and a ‘0’ bit represents a free block position.Similarly, the quiescence map may be considered as a bitmap with values1,1,1,0,0,1,1,0,0,0,0, where a ‘1’ bit represents a modified blockposition, and a ‘0’ bit represents an original block position. Finally,a Boolean OR operation can be performed on these two bitmaps, where a‘1’ bit represents TRUE and a ‘0’ bit represents FALSE, resulting in abitmap of 1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,1,0, which is represented in full backupblock positions map 210 listing positions (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7),and (10) at time t(1.2) or beyond.

Finally, the full image backup 120 a can be created at time t(1.2) orbeyond by copying blocks from the positions listed in the full backupblock positions map 210 from the quiesced snapshot 206 to the full imagebackup 120 a. The full image backup 120 a of FIG. 2A thereforerepresents the state of the source storage 108 at time t(1), but withpost-snapshot quiescence modifications, which may make the full imagebackup 120 a more useful when it comes time to restore the full imagebackup 120 a to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 2A, between time t(1) and time t(2), the sourcestorage 108 is modified. In particular, blocks are written to positions(1), (3), (5), (7), (9), and (11). These writes between time t(1) andtime t(2) are reflected in a modify map 212, which is used to trackblock positions of blocks that are modified in the source storage 108between time t(1) and time t(2). In addition, prior to time t(2), theblocks in positions (3) and (5) are made free, and the blocks inpositions (6) and (8) are allocated but data has not yet been written tothese blocks, resulting in the state of the source storage 108 at timet(2) including allocated blocks in positions (1), (6), (7), (8), (9),(10), and (11) and free blocks at positions (2), (3), (4), and (5).These allocated blocks are reflected in an FSBAM 214 at time t(2), whichidentifies block positions of blocks that are allocated in the sourcestorage 108 at time t(2). At time t(2), a snapshot 216 is taken of thesource storage 108, which initially captures the state of the sourcestorage at time t(2). The FSBAM 214 may be stored in the snapshot 216,or it may be stored separately from the snapshot 216.

Between time t(2) and time t(2.3), the state of the snapshot 216 ismodified by post-snapshot quiescence writes to the blocks in positions(1), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (11), resulting in a quiesced snapshot 218.These post-snapshot quiescence writes are reflected in a quiescence map220, which identifies block positions of blocks that are written to thesnapshot 216 during post-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot 216,resulting in the quiesced snapshot 218 at time t(2.3).

At time t(2.3), block positions for the 1st incremental image backup 122a are calculated by performing a Boolean OR operation on the quiescencemap 208 and the modify map 212, then performing a Boolean AND operationwith the FSBAM 214, and then performing a Boolean OR operation with thequiescence map 220, which results in incremental backup block positionsmap 222 listing positions (1), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (11) at timet(2.3).

Finally, the 1st incremental image backup 122 a can be created at timet(2.3) or beyond by copying blocks from the positions listed in theincremental backup block positions map 222 from the quiesced snapshot218 to the 1st incremental image backup 122 a. The 1st incremental imagebackup 122 a of FIG. 2A therefore represents the state of the sourcestorage 108 at time t(2), but with post-snapshot quiescencemodifications, which may make the 1st incremental image backup 122 amore useful when it comes time to restore the 1st incremental imagebackup 122 a to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIGS. 2A-2B, between time t(2) and time t(3), the sourcestorage 108 is modified. In particular, blocks are written to positions(1), (3), (5), (7), and (9). These writes between time t(2) and timet(3) are reflected in a modify map 224, which is used to track blockpositions of blocks that are modified in the source storage 108 betweentime t(2) and time t(3). In addition, as disclosed in FIG. 2B, prior totime t(3), the blocks in positions (3) and (7) are made free, and theblocks in positions (4) and (8) are allocated but data has not yet beenwritten to these blocks, resulting in the state of the source storage108 at time t(3) including allocated blocks in positions (1), (4), (5),(8), (9), (10), and (11) and free blocks at positions (2), (3), (6), and(7). These allocated blocks are reflected in an FSBAM 226 at time t(3),which identifies block positions of blocks that are allocated in thesource storage 108 at time t(3). At time t(3), a snapshot 228 is takenof the source storage 108, which initially captures the state of thesource storage at time t(3). The FSBAM 226 may be stored in the snapshot228, or it may be stored separately from the snapshot 228.

Between time t(3) and time t(3.1), the state of the snapshot 228 ismodified by post-snapshot quiescence writes to the blocks in positions(1), (2), (3), (6), and (7), resulting in a quiesced snapshot 230 attime t(3.1). These post-snapshot quiescence writes are reflected in aquiescence map 232, which identifies block positions of blocks that arewritten to the snapshot 228 during post-snapshot quiescence of thesnapshot 228, resulting in the quiesced snapshot 230.

At time t(3.1), block positions for the 2nd incremental image backup 124a are calculated by performing a Boolean OR operation on the quiescencemap 220 and the modify map 224, then performing a Boolean AND operationwith the FSBAM 226, and then performing a Boolean OR operation with thequiescence map 232, which results in incremental backup block positionsmap 234 listing positions (1), (2), (3), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and(11) at time t(3.1).

Finally, the 2nd incremental image backup 124 a can be created at timet(3.1) or beyond by copying blocks from the positions listed in theincremental backup block positions map 234 from the quiesced snapshot230 to the 2nd incremental image backup 124 a. The 2nd incremental imagebackup 124 a of FIG. 2B therefore represents the state of the sourcestorage 108 at time t(3), but with post-snapshot quiescencemodifications, which may make the 2nd incremental image backup 124 amore useful when it comes time to restore the 2nd incremental imagebackup 124 a to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 2C, the timeline 200 of FIGS. 2A-2B results in thelinear image backup chain 201 in which the 2nd incremental image backup124 a depends on the 1st incremental image backup 122 a, which dependson the full image backup 120 a. Although the linear image backup chain201 may be over-inclusive in that it may contain some blocks that arenot needed in every restoration, the benefits of capturing thepost-snapshot quiescence modifications in the linear image backup chain201 may outweigh any increase in size due to over-inclusivity.

FIGS. 3A-3B are a schematic block diagram illustrating a timeline 300 ofcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a linear image backupchain. FIG. 3C is a schematic block diagram illustrating a linear imagebackup chain 301 resulting from the timeline 300 of FIGS. 3A-3B. Sincethe timeline 300 of FIGS. 3A-3B is similar in many respects to thetimeline 200 of FIGS. 2A-2B, those portions of the timeline 300 thatdiffer from the timeline 200 will primarily be discussed in connectionwith FIGS. 3A-3B. FIGS. 3A-3B disclose the states of the source storage108 at times t(1), t(1.2), t(2), t(2.3), t(3), and t(3.1), with the fullimage backup 120 b representing the state of the source storage 108 attime t(1), the 1st incremental image backup 122 b representing the stateof the source storage at time t(2), and the 2nd incremental image backup124 b representing the state of the source storage at time t(3).However, as discussed in greater detail below, the image backups 120 b,122 b, and 124 b are paired with additional quiesced incremental imagebackups 121, 123, and 125 that include post-snapshot quiescencemodifications, which makes the linear image backup chain 301 of FIG. 3C(which is made up of the image backups 120 b, 122 b, and 124 b alongwith their paired quiesced incremental image backups 121, 123, and 125)more useful when it comes time to restore one or more backups in thelinear image backup chain 301 to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 3A, the state of the source storage 108 at timet(1) includes allocated blocks and free blocks, which are reflected inthe FSBAM 202 at time t(1). At time t(1), the snapshot 204 is taken ofthe source storage 108. Between time t(1) and time t(1.2), the state ofthe snapshot 204 is modified by post-snapshot quiescence writes,resulting in the quiesced snapshot 206 and reflected in the quiescencemap 208.

At time t(1) or beyond, blocks identified in the FSBAM 202, namely theblocks in positions (1), (2), (3), (5), and (10), are copied from thesnapshot 204 to the full image backup 120 b. In addition, at time t(1.2)or beyond, blocks identified in the quiescence map 208, namely theblocks in positions (1), (2), (3), (6), and (7), are copied from thequiesced snapshot 206 to a quiesced incremental image backup 121. Thefull image backup 120 b of FIG. 3A therefore represents the state of thesource storage 108 at time t(1), and the quiesced incremental imagebackup 121 represents the post-snapshot quiescence modifications made tothe snapshot 204, enabling the full image backup 120 b and the quiescedincremental image backup 121 to be restored together, which may make thefull image backup 120 b more useful when it comes time to restore thefull image backup 120 b to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

Between time t(1) and time t(2), the source storage 108 is modified, asreflected in the modify map 212, and allocated blocks at time t(2) arereflected in the FSBAM 214. At time t(2), the snapshot 216 is taken ofthe source storage 108. Between time t(2) and time t(2.3), the state ofthe snapshot 216 is modified by post-snapshot quiescence writes,resulting in the quiesced snapshot 218 at time t(2.3), and reflected inthe quiescence map 220 at time t(2.3).

At time t(2) or beyond, block positions for the 1st incremental imagebackup 122 b are calculated by performing a Boolean OR operation on thequiescence map 208 and the modify map 212, then performing a Boolean ANDoperation with the FSBAM 214, which results in incremental backup blockpositions map 322 listing positions (1), (6), (7), (9), and (11).

Finally, at time t(2) or beyond, blocks identified in the incrementalbackup block positions map 322, namely the blocks in positions (1), (6),(7), (9), and (11), are copied from the snapshot 216 to the 1stincremental image backup 122 b. In addition, at time t(2.3) or beyond,blocks identified in the quiescence map 220, namely the blocks inpositions (1), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (11), are copied from thequiesced snapshot 218 to a quiesced incremental image backup 123. The1st incremental image backup 122 b of FIG. 3A therefore represents thestate of the source storage 108 at time t(2), and the quiescedincremental image backup 123 represents the post-snapshot quiescencemodifications made to the snapshot 216, enabling the 1st incrementalimage backup 122 b and the quiesced incremental image backup 123 to berestored together, which may make the 1st incremental image backup 122 bmore useful when it comes time to restore the 1st incremental imagebackup 122 b to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIGS. 3A-3B, between time t(2) and time t(3), the sourcestorage 108 is modified, as reflected in the modify map 224, andallocated blocks at time t(3) are reflected in the FSBAM 226. At timet(3), the snapshot 228 is taken of the source storage 108. Between timet(3) and time t(3.1), the state of the snapshot 228 is modified bypost-snapshot quiescence writes, resulting in the quiesced snapshot 230at time t(3.1), and reflected in the quiescence map 232 at time t(3.1).

At time t(3) or beyond, block positions for the 2nd incremental imagebackup 124 b are calculated by performing a Boolean OR operation on thequiescence map 220 and the modify map 224, then performing a Boolean ANDoperation with the FSBAM 226, which results in incremental backup blockpositions map 334 listing positions (1), (5), (8), (9), and (11).

Finally, at time t(3) or beyond, blocks identified in the incrementalbackup block positions map 334, namely the blocks in positions (1), (5),(8), (9), and (11), are copied from the snapshot 228 to the 2ndincremental image backup 124 b. In addition, at time t(3.1) or beyond,blocks identified in the quiescence map 232, namely the blocks inpositions (1), (2), (3), (6), and (7), are copied from the quiescedsnapshot 230 to a quiesced incremental image backup 125. The 2ndincremental image backup 124 b of FIG. 3B therefore represents the stateof the source storage 108 at time t(3), and the quiesced incrementalimage backup 125 represents the post-snapshot quiescence modificationsmade to the snapshot 228, enabling the 2nd incremental image backup 124b and the quiesced incremental image backup 125 to be restored together,which may make the 2nd incremental image backup 124 b more useful whenit comes time to restore the 2nd incremental image backup 124 b to therestore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 3C, the timeline 300 of FIGS. 3A-3B result in thelinear image backup chain 301 in which the quiesced incremental backup125 depends on the 2nd incremental image backup 124 b, which depends onthe quiesced incremental image backup 123, which depends on the 1stincremental image backup 122 b, which depends on the quiescedincremental image backup 121, which depends on the full image backup 120b. Although the linear image backup chain 301 may be over-inclusive inthat it may contain some blocks that are not needed in everyrestoration, the benefits of capturing the post-snapshot quiescencemodifications in the linear image backup chain 301 may outweigh anyincrease in size due to over-inclusivity. In addition, duringrestoration of the linear image backup chain 301, while all backupimages in the linear image backup chain 301 may be employed, thevalidity of the restoration may be accomplished by ignoring interveningquiesced incremental image backups, which may increase the speed anddecrease the overhead of the restoration. For example, where thequiesced incremental image backup 125 is restored, the restoration mayignore the intervening quiesced incremental image backup 123 and theintervening quiesced incremental image backup 121, and instead consider,for purposes of the restoration, the quiesced incremental image backup125 to depend from the 2nd incremental image backup 124 b, which dependson the 1st incremental image backup 122 b, which depends on the fullimage backup 120 b.

FIGS. 4A-4B are a schematic block diagram illustrating a timeline 400 ofcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backupchain. FIG. 4C is a schematic block diagram illustrating a branchingimage backup chain 401 resulting from the timeline 400 of FIGS. 4A-4B.Since the timeline 400 of FIGS. 4A-4B is similar in many respects to thetimeline 300 of FIGS. 3A-3B, those portions of the timeline 400 thatdiffer from the timeline 300 will primarily be discussed in connectionwith FIGS. 4A-4B. FIGS. 4A-4B disclose the states of the source storage108 at times t(1), t(1.2), t(2), t(2.3), t(3), and t(3.1), with the fullimage backup 120 b representing the state of the source storage 108 attime t(1), the 1st incremental image backup 122 c representing the stateof the source storage at time t(2), and the 2nd incremental image backup124 c representing the state of the source storage at time t(3).However, as discussed in greater detail below, the image backups 120 b,122 c, and 124 c are paired with additional quiesced incremental imagebackups 121, 123, and 125 that include post-snapshot quiescencemodifications, which makes the branching image backup chain 401 of FIG.4C (which is made up of the image backups 120 b, 122 c, and 124 c alongwith their paired quiesced incremental image backups 121, 123, and 125)more useful when it comes time to restore one or more backups in thebranching image backup chain 401 to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 4A, the operations between time t(1) and time t(2),and the first few operations between time t(2) and time t(2.3) in thetimeline 400 are identical to the corresponding operations in thetimeline 300 of FIG. 3A. However, at time t(2) or beyond, blockpositions for the 1st incremental image backup 122 c are calculated byperforming a Boolean AND operation on the modify map 212 and the FSBAM214, which results in incremental backup block positions map 422 listingpositions (1), (7), (9), and (11).

Finally, at time t(2) or beyond, blocks identified in the incrementalbackup block positions map 422, namely the blocks in positions (1), (7),(9), and (11), are copied from the snapshot 216 to the 1st incrementalimage backup 122 c. In addition, at time t(2.3) or beyond, blocksidentified in the quiescence map 220 are copied from the quiescedsnapshot 218 to a quiesced incremental image backup 123. The 1stincremental image backup 122 c of FIG. 4A therefore represents the stateof the source storage 108 at time t(2), and the quiesced incrementalimage backup 123 represents the post-snapshot quiescence modificationsmade to the snapshot 216, enabling the 1st incremental image backup 122c and the quiesced incremental image backup 123 to be restored together,which may make the 1st incremental image backup 122 c more useful whenit comes time to restore the 1st incremental image backup 122 c to therestore storage 112 in FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the modifications to the source storage108 between time t(2) and time t(3), and the first few operationsbetween time t(3) and time t(3.1) in the timeline 400 are identical tothe corresponding operations in the timeline 300 of FIG. 3A. However, attime t(3) or beyond, block positions for the 2nd incremental imagebackup 124 c are calculated by performing a Boolean AND operation on themodify map 224 and the FSBAM 226, which results in incremental backupblock positions map 434 listing positions (1), (5), and (9).

Finally, at time t(3) or beyond, blocks identified in the incrementalbackup block positions map 434, namely the blocks in positions (1), (5),and (9), are copied from the snapshot 228 to the 2nd incremental imagebackup 124 c. In addition, at time 3.1 or beyond, blocks identified inthe quiescence map 232 are copied from the quiesced snapshot 230 to aquiesced incremental image backup 125. The 2nd incremental image backup124 c of FIG. 4B therefore represents the state of the source storage108 at time t(3), and the quiesced incremental image backup 125represents the post-snapshot quiescence modifications made to thesnapshot 228, enabling the 2nd incremental image backup 124 c and thequiesced incremental image backup 125 to be restored together, which maymake the 2nd incremental image backup 124 c more useful when it comestime to restore the 2nd incremental image backup 124 c to the restorestorage 112 of FIG. 1.

As disclosed in FIG. 4C, the timeline 400 of FIGS. 4A-4B results in thebranching image backup chain 401 in which, on a first branch, thequiesced incremental backup 125 depends on the 2nd incremental imagebackup 124 c, which depends on the 1st incremental image backup 122 c,which depends on the full image backup 120 b. On a second branch, thequiesced incremental image backup 123 depends on the 1st incrementalimage backup 122 c, which depends on the full image backup 120 b. On athird branch, the quiesced incremental image backup 121 depends on thefull image backup 120 b. Although the branching image backup chain 401may be over-inclusive in that it may contain some blocks that are notneeded in every restoration, the benefits of capturing the post-snapshotquiescence modifications in the branching image backup chain 401 mayoutweigh any increase in size due to over-inclusivity. In addition,during restoration of the branching image backup chain 401, it isunderstood that only a single branch may be restored, thus avoidtraversing every image backup in the branching image backup chain 401,which may increase the speed and decrease the overhead of therestoration.

FIG. 5 is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example method 500 forcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in an image backup. FIG. 6 isa schematic flowchart illustrating an example method 600 for capturingpost-snapshot quiescence writes in a linear image backup chain. FIG. 7is a schematic flowchart illustrating an example method 700 forcapturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branching image backupchain. The methods 500, 600, and 700 may be implemented, in at leastsome embodiments, by the backup module 114 of FIG. 1. For example, thebackup module 114 may be one or more programs, stored on one or morenon-transitory computer-readable media, that are configured, whenexecuted, to cause one or more processors to perform operations of themethods 500, 600, and 700, as represented by one or more of the steps ofthe methods 500, 600, and 700. Although illustrated as discrete steps,various steps may be divided into additional steps, combined into fewersteps, reordered, or eliminated, depending on the desiredimplementation. The method 500 will be discussed with reference to FIGS.1, 2A-2C, and 5, the method 600 will be discussed with reference toFIGS. 1, 3A-3C, and 6, and the method 700 will be discussed withreference to FIGS. 1, 4A-4C, and 7.

The method 500 of FIG. 5 may include step 502 of taking a first snapshotof a source storage at a first point in time. For example, the backupmodule 114 of FIG. 1 may take the snapshot 204 of the source storage 108at time t(1), as disclosed in FIG. 2A. This taking of the snapshot 204at step 502 may be performed, for example, by a VSS.

The method 500 may include step 504 of identifying a first set of blockpositions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage at thefirst point in time. Continuing with the above example, the backupmodule 114 of FIG. 1 may identify, at step 504, the first set of blockpositions by accessing the FSBAM 202 of the source storage 108, that maybe stored in the snapshot 204 or separately from the snapshot 204, whichidentifies a first set of block positions of blocks that are allocatedin the source storage 108 at time t(1), as disclosed in FIG. 2A.

The method 500 may include step 506 of identifying a second set of blockpositions of blocks that are written to the first snapshot duringpost-snapshot quiescence of the first snapshot, resulting in a firstquiesced snapshot. Continuing with the above example, the backup module114 of FIG. 1 may access, at step 506, the quiescence map 208 of thesnapshot 204, which identifies a second set of block positions of blocksthat are written to the snapshot 204 during post-snapshot quiescence ofthe snapshot 204 that occurs between time t(1) and time t(1.2),resulting in the quiesced snapshot 206, as disclosed in FIG. 2A. Thepost-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot 204 at step 506 may beperformed, for example, by a VSS and/or a VSS Writer.

The method 500 may include step 508 of calculating a third set of blockpositions by performing a Boolean OR operation on the first set of blockpositions and the second set of block positions. Continuing with theabove example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate, at step508, a third set of block positions by performing a Boolean OR operationon the first set of block positions from the FSBAM 202 and the secondset of block positions from the quiescence map 208, as disclosed in FIG.2A.

The method 500 may include step 510 of copying blocks in the third setof block positions from the first quiesced snapshot to a full imagebackup. Continuing with the above example, the backup module 114 of FIG.1 may copy, at step 510, blocks in the third set of block positions,which was calculated at step 508, from the quiesced snapshot 206 to thefull image backup 120 a, as disclosed in FIG. 2A. After step 510, thefull image backup 120 a represents the state of the source storage 108at time t(1), but with post-snapshot quiescence modifications, which maymake the full image backup 120 a more useful when it comes time torestore the full image backup 120 a to the restore storage 112 of FIG.1.

The method 500 may include step 512 of tracking a fourth set of blockpositions of blocks that are modified in the source storage between thefirst point in time and a second point in time. Continuing with theabove example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may track, at step 512,in the modify map 212, a fourth set of block positions of blocks thatare modified in the source storage 108 between time t(1) and time t(2),as disclosed in FIG. 2A.

The method 500 may include step 514 of taking a second snapshot of thesource storage at the second point in time. Continuing with the aboveexample, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may take, at step 514, thesnapshot 216 of the source storage 108 at time t(2), as disclosed inFIG. 2A. This taking of the snapshot 216 at step 514 may be performed,for example, by a VSS.

The method 500 may include step 516 of identifying a fifth set of blockpositions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage at thesecond point in time. Continuing with the above example, the backupmodule 114 of FIG. 1 may identify, at step 516, the fifth set of blockpositions by accessing the FSBAM 214 of the source storage 108, that maybe stored in the snapshot 216 or separately from the snapshot 216, whichidentifies a fifth set of block positions of blocks that are allocatedin the source storage 108 at time t(2), as disclosed in FIG. 2A.

The method 500 may include step 518 of identifying a sixth set of blockpositions of blocks that are written to the second snapshot duringpost-snapshot quiescence of the second snapshot, resulting in a secondquiesced snapshot. Continuing with the above example, the backup module114 of FIG. 1 may access, at step 518, the quiescence map 220 of FIG.2A, which identifies block positions of blocks that are written to thesnapshot 216 during post-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot 216,resulting in the quiesced snapshot 218. The post-snapshot quiescence ofthe snapshot 216 at step 518 may be performed, for example, by a VSSand/or a VSS Writer.

The method 500 may include step 520 of calculating a seventh set ofblock positions by performing a Boolean OR operation on the second setof block positions and the fourth set of block positions. Continuingwith the above example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate,at step 520, a seventh set of block positions by performing a Boolean ORoperation on the second set of block positions from the quiescence map208 and the fourth set of block positions from the modify map 212, asdisclosed in FIG. 2A.

The method 500 may include step 522 of calculating an eighth set ofblock positions by performing a Boolean AND operation on the fifth setof block positions and the seventh set of block positions. Continuingwith the above example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate,at step 522, an eighth set of block positions by performing a BooleanAND operation on the fifth set of block positions from the FSBAM 214 ofFIG. 2A and the seventh set of block positions that was calculated atstep 520.

The method 500 may include step 524 of calculating a ninth set of blockpositions by performing a Boolean OR operation on the sixth set of blockpositions and the eighth set of block positions. Continuing with theabove example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate, at step524, a ninth set of block positions by performing a Boolean OR operationon the sixth set of block positions from the quiescence map 220 of FIG.2A and the eighth set of block positions that was calculated at step522.

The method 500 may include step 526 of copying blocks in the ninth setof block positions from the second quiesced snapshot to an incrementalimage backup. Continuing with the above example, the backup module 114of FIG. 1 may copy, at step 526, blocks in the ninth set of blockpositions, which was calculated at step 524, from the quiesced snapshot218 to the 1st incremental image backup 122 a, as disclosed in FIG. 2A.After step 526, the 1st incremental image backup 122 a represents thestate of the source storage 108 at time t(2), but with post-snapshotquiescence modifications, which may make the 1st incremental imagebackup 122 a more useful when it comes time to restore the 1stincremental image backup 122 a to the restore storage 112 of FIG. 1.

It is understood that the foregoing discussion of the method 500 is butone possible implementation of a method for capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in an image backup, and various modifications arepossible and contemplated. For example, the method 500 may be modifiedto remove steps 512-526. In another example, the full image backup maybe generated using a different method. In another example, the method500 may be modified to remove one or more of the steps 502-510.

The method 600 of FIG. 6 may include steps 602, 604, and 606, which areidentical to steps 502, 504, and 506, respectively, of the method 500 ofFIG. 5.

The method 600 may include step 608 of copying blocks in the first setof block positions from the first snapshot to a full image backup. Forexample, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may copy, at step 608, blocksin the first set of block positions, which was calculated at step 604,from the snapshot 204 to the full image backup 120 b of FIG. 3A.

The method 600 may include step 610 of copying blocks in the second setof block positions from the first quiesced snapshot to a firstincremental backup. For example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 maycopy, at step 610, blocks in the second set of block positions, whichwas calculated at step 606, from the quiesced snapshot 206 to thequiesced incremental image backup 121 of FIG. 3A.

After step 610, the full image backup 120 b represents the state of thesource storage 108 at time t(1), and the quiesced incremental imagebackup 121 represents the post-snapshot quiescence modifications made tothe snapshot 204, enabling the full image backup 120 b and the quiescedincremental image backup 121 to be restored together, which may make thefull image backup 120 b more useful when it comes time to restore thefull image backup 120 b to the restore storage 112.

The method 600 may include step 612 of tracking a third set of blockpositions of blocks that are modified in the source storage between thefirst point in time and a second point in time. Continuing with theabove example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may track, at step 612,in the modify map 212, a third set of block positions of blocks that aremodified in the source storage 108 between time t(1) and time t(2), asdisclosed in FIG. 3A.

The method 600 of FIG. 6 may include step 614, which is identical to thestep 514 of the method 500 of FIG. 5.

The method 600 may include step 616 of identifying a fourth set of blockpositions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage at thesecond point in time. Continuing with the above example, the backupmodule 114 of FIG. 1 may identify, at step 616, the fourth set of blockpositions by accessing the FSBAM 214 of the source storage 108 that isstored in the snapshot 216, or alternately outside of the snapshot 216,which identifies a fourth set of block positions of blocks that areallocated in the source storage 108 at time t(2), as disclosed in FIG.3A.

The method 600 may include step 618 of identifying a fifth set of blockpositions of blocks that are written to the second snapshot duringpost-snapshot quiescence of the second snapshot, resulting in a secondquiesced snapshot. Continuing with the above example, the backup module114 of FIG. 1 may access, at step 618, the quiescence map 220 of FIG.2A, which identifies block positions of blocks that are written to thesnapshot 216 during post-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot 216,resulting in the quiesced snapshot 218, as disclosed in FIG. 3A. Thepost-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot 216 at step 618 may beperformed, for example, by a VSS and/or a VSS Writer.

The method 600 may include step 620 of calculating a sixth set of blockpositions by performing a Boolean OR operation on the second set ofblock positions and the third set of block positions. Continuing withthe above example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate, atstep 620, a sixth set of block positions by performing a Boolean ORoperation on the second set of block positions from the quiescence map208 and the third set of block positions from the modify map 212, asdisclosed in FIG. 3A.

The method 600 may include step 622 of calculating a seventh set ofblock positions by performing a Boolean AND operation on the fourth setof block positions and the sixth set of block positions. Continuing withthe above example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate, atstep 622, a seventh set of block positions by performing a Boolean ANDoperation on the fourth set of block positions from the FSBAM 214 ofFIG. 3A and the sixth set of block positions that was calculated at step620.

The method 600 may include step 624 of copying blocks in the seventh setof block positions from the second snapshot to a second incrementalimage backup. Continuing with the above example, the backup module 114of FIG. 1 may copy, at step 624, blocks in the seventh set of blockpositions, which was calculated at step 622, from the snapshot 216 tothe 1st incremental image backup 122 b of FIG. 3A.

The method 600 may include step 626 of copying blocks in the fifth setof block positions from the second quiesced snapshot to a thirdincremental image backup. Continuing with the above example, the backupmodule 114 of FIG. 1 may copy, at step 626, blocks in the fifth set ofblock positions, which was identified at step 618, from the secondquiesced snapshot 218 to the quiesced incremental image backup 123 ofFIG. 3A.

After step 626, the 1st incremental image backup 122 b represents thestate of the source storage 108 at time t(2), and the quiescedincremental image backup 123 represents the post-snapshot quiescencemodifications made to the snapshot 216, enabling the 1st incrementalimage backup 122 b and the quiesced incremental image backup 123 to berestored together, which may make the 1st incremental image backup 122 bmore useful when it comes time to restore the 1st incremental imagebackup 122 b to the restore storage 112.

It is understood that the foregoing discussion of the method 600 is butone possible implementation of a method for capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in a linear image backup chain, and variousmodifications are possible and contemplated. For example, the method 600may be modified to remove steps 612-626. Additionally or alternatively,the steps 604, 608, and 610 may be omitted and the steps 602 and 606 maybe performed during the creation of an incremental image backup (such asthe 1st incremental image backup 122 b of FIG. 3A) instead of during thecreation of a full image backup (such as the full image backup 120 b ofFIG. 3A), and then the steps 612-626 may be performed during thecreation of a subsequent incremental image backup (such as the 2ndincremental image backup 124 b of FIG. 3B), with or without the creationof a quiesced incremental image backup that corresponds to the fullincremental image backup that is positioned at the head of the imagebackup chain (such as the quiesced incremental image backup 121 of FIG.3A).

The method 700 of FIG. 7 may include steps 702, 704, 706, 708, 710, 712,714, 716, and 718, which are identical to steps 602, 604, 606, 608, 610,612, 614, 616, and 618, respectively, of the method 600 of FIG. 6.

The method 700 may include step 720 of calculating a sixth set of blockpositions by performing a Boolean AND operation on the third set ofblock positions and the fourth set of block positions. For example, thebackup module 114 of FIG. 1 may calculate, at step 720, a sixth set ofblock positions by performing a Boolean AND operation on the third setof block positions from the modify map 212 of FIG. 4A and the fourth setof block positions from the FSBAM 214 of FIG. 4A.

The method 700 may include step 722 of copying blocks in the sixth setof block positions from the second snapshot to a second incrementalimage backup that depends on the full image backup. Continuing with theabove example, the backup module 114 of FIG. 1 may copy, at step 722,blocks in the sixth set of block positions, which was calculated at step720, from the snapshot 216 to the 1st incremental image backup 122 c ofFIG. 4A.

The method 700 may include step 724 of copying blocks in the fifth setof block positions from the second quiesced snapshot to a thirdincremental image backup that depends on the second incremental imagebackup. Continuing with the above example, the backup module 114 of FIG.1 may copy, at step 724, blocks in the fifth set of block positions,which was identified at step 718, from the second quiesced snapshot 218to the quiesced incremental image backup 123 of FIG. 4A.

After step 724, the 1st incremental image backup 122 c represents thestate of the source storage 108 at time t(1), and the quiescedincremental image backup 123 represents the post-snapshot quiescencemodifications made to the snapshot 216, enabling the 1st incrementalimage backup 122 c and the quiesced incremental image backup 123 to berestored together, which may make the 1st incremental image backup 122 cmore useful when it comes time to restore the 1st incremental imagebackup 122 c to the restore storage 112.

It is understood that the foregoing discussion of the method 700 is butone possible implementation of a method for capturing post-snapshotquiescence writes in a branching image backup chain, and variousmodifications are possible and contemplated. For example, the steps 704,708, and 710 may be omitted and the steps 702 and 706 may be performedduring the creation of an incremental image backup (such as the 1stincremental image backup 122 c of FIG. 4A) instead of during thecreation of a full image backup (such as the full image backup 120 b ofFIG. 4A), and then the steps 712-724 may be performed during thecreation of a subsequent incremental image backup (such as the 2ndincremental image backup 124 c of FIG. 4B), with or without the creationof a quiesced incremental image backup that corresponds to the fullincremental image backup that is positioned at the head of the imagebackup chain (such as the quiesced incremental image backup 121 of FIG.4A).

The embodiments described herein may include the use of aspecial-purpose or general-purpose computer, including various computerhardware or software modules, as discussed in greater detail below.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented using non-transitorycomputer-readable media for carrying or having computer-executableinstructions or data structures stored thereon. Such computer-readablemedia may be any available media that may be accessed by ageneral-purpose or special-purpose computer. By way of example, and notlimitation, such computer-readable media may include non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media including RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM orother optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magneticstorage devices, or any other storage medium which may be used to carryor store one or more desired programs having program code in the form ofcomputer-executable instructions or data structures and which may beaccessed and executed by a general-purpose computer, special-purposecomputer, or virtual computer such as a virtual machine. Combinations ofthe above may also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Computer-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions anddata which, when executed by one or more processors, cause ageneral-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or virtual computersuch as a virtual machine to perform a certain method, function, orgroup of methods or functions. Although the subject matter has beendescribed in language specific to structural features and/ormethodological steps, it is to be understood that the subject matterdefined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to thespecific features or steps described above. Rather, the specificfeatures and steps described above are disclosed as example forms ofimplementing the claims.

As used herein, the term “module” may refer to software objects orroutines that execute on a computing system. The different modules orfilters described herein may be implemented as objects or processes thatexecute on a computing system (e.g., as separate threads). While thesystem and methods described herein are preferably implemented insoftware, implementations in hardware or a combination of software andhardware are also possible and contemplated.

All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical objects to aid the reader in understanding the exampleembodiments and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furtheringthe art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to suchspecifically-recited examples and conditions.

1. A method for capturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in a branchingimage backup chain, the method comprising: taking a first snapshot of asource storage at a first point in time; identifying a first set ofblock positions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage atthe first point in time; identifying a second set of block positions ofblocks that are written to the first snapshot during post-snapshotquiescence of the first snapshot, resulting in a first quiescedsnapshot; copying the blocks in the first set of block positions fromthe first snapshot to a full image backup; copying the blocks in thesecond set of block positions from the first quiesced snapshot to afirst incremental image backup that depends on the full image backup;tracking a third set of block positions of the blocks that are modifiedin the source storage between the first point in time and a second pointin time; taking a second snapshot of the source storage at the secondpoint in time; identifying a fourth set of block positions of the blocksthat are allocated in the source storage at the second point in time;identifying a fifth set of block positions of blocks that are written tothe second snapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of the secondsnapshot, resulting in a second quiesced snapshot; calculating a sixthset of block positions by performing a Boolean AND operation on thethird set of block positions and the fourth set of block positions;copying the blocks in the sixth set of block positions from the secondsnapshot to a second incremental image backup that depends on the fullimage backup; and copying the blocks in the fifth set of block positionsfrom the second quiesced snapshot to a third incremental image backupthat depends on the second incremental image backup.
 2. The method asrecited in claim 1, wherein the taking of the first snapshot and thetaking of the second snapshot are performed by a Volume Shadow CopyService (VS S).
 3. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein thepost-snapshot quiescence of the first snapshot and the post-snapshotquiescence of the second snapshot are performed by the VSS or by a VSSWriter.
 4. The method as recited in claim 2, wherein the post-snapshotquiescence of the first snapshot and the post-snapshot quiescence of thesecond snapshot are performed by a VSS Writer.
 5. The method as recitedin claim 4, wherein the VSS Writer is an Active Directory (AD) serviceor a Hyper-V hypervisor.
 6. One or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia storing one or more programs that are configured, when executed,to cause one or more processors to perform the method as recited inclaim
 1. 7. A method for capturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in abranching image backup chain, the method comprising: tracking a firstset of block positions of a blocks that are modified in a source storagebetween a first point in time and a second point in time; taking asnapshot of the source storage at the second point in time; identifyinga second set of block positions of the blocks that are allocated in thesource storage at the second point in time; identifying a third set ofblock positions of blocks that are written to the snapshot duringpost-snapshot quiescence of the snapshot, resulting in a quiescedsnapshot; calculating a fourth set of block positions by performing aBoolean AND operation on the first set of block positions and the secondset of block positions; copying the blocks in the fourth set of blockpositions from the snapshot to a first incremental image backup thatdepends on an image backup that represents the state of the sourcestorage at the first point in time; and copying the blocks in the thirdset of block positions from the quiesced snapshot to a secondincremental image backup that depends on the second incremental imagebackup.
 8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the taking of thesnapshot is performed by a Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
 9. Themethod as recited in claim 8, wherein the post-snapshot quiescence ofthe snapshot is performed by the VSS or by a VSS Writer.
 10. The methodas recited in claim 8, wherein the post-snapshot quiescence of thesnapshot is performed by a VSS Writer.
 11. The method as recited inclaim 10, wherein the VSS Writer is an Active Directory (AD) service ora Hyper-V hypervisor.
 12. One or more non-transitory computer-readablemedia storing one or more programs that are configured, when executed,to cause one or more processors to perform the method as recited inclaim
 7. 13. A method for capturing post-snapshot quiescence writes in abranching image backup chain, the method comprising: taking a firstsnapshot of a source storage at a first point in time; identifying afirst file system block allocation map (FSBAM) of the source storagefrom the first point in time, the first FSBAM identifying blockpositions of blocks that are allocated in the source storage at thefirst point in time; accessing a first quiescence map of the firstsnapshot, the first quiescence map identifying block positions of blocksthat are written to the first snapshot during post-snapshot quiescenceof the first snapshot, resulting in a first quiesced snapshot; copyingthe blocks identified in the first FSBAM from the first snapshot to afull image backup; copying the blocks identified in the first quiescencemap from the first quiesced snapshot to a first incremental image backupthat depends on the full image backup; tracking, in a modify map, blockpositions of the blocks that are modified in the source storage betweenthe first point in time and a second point in time; taking a secondsnapshot of the source storage at the second point in time; accessing asecond FSBAM of the source storage from the second point in time, thesecond FSBAM identifying block positions of the blocks that areallocated in the source storage at the second point in time; accessing asecond quiescence map of the second snapshot, the second quiescence mapidentifying block positions of blocks that are written to the secondsnapshot during post-snapshot quiescence of the second snapshot,resulting in a second quiesced snapshot; calculating block positions fora second incremental image backup by performing a Boolean AND operationon the modify map and the second FSBAM; copying the blocks in the blockpositions for the second incremental image backup from the secondsnapshot to the second incremental image backup that depends on the fullimage backup; and copying the blocks in the second quiescence map fromthe second quiesced snapshot to a third incremental image backup thatdepends on the second incremental image backup.
 14. The method asrecited in claim 13, wherein the taking of the first snapshot and thetaking of the second snapshot are performed by a Volume Shadow CopyService (VS S).
 15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein thepost-snapshot quiescence of the first snapshot and the post-snapshotquiescence of the second snapshot are performed by the VSS or by a VSSWriter.
 16. The method as recited in claim 15, wherein the VSS Writer isan Active Directory (AD) service or a Hyper-V hypervisor.
 17. The methodas recited in claim 13, wherein: the first FSBAM is stored in the firstsnapshot; and the second FSBAM is stored in the second snapshot.
 18. Themethod as recited in claim 13, wherein the full image backup is aShadowProtect Full (SPF) image backup.
 19. The method as recited inclaim 18, wherein the first, second, and third incremental image backupsare ShadowProtect Incremental (SPI) image backups.
 20. One or morenon-transitory computer-readable media storing one or more programs thatare configured, when executed, to cause one or more processors toperform the method as recited in claim 13.